Question: A lot of disciples prefer to run in the beautiful areas in the countryside, but the organisers like to do things in big cities where there is more media and more publicity. How does the Supreme view the value of having a peaceful Peace Run in the open country versus manifestation in the cities?

Sri Chinmoy: Both are needed. We have to use our wisdom. You can run in a small, beautiful village and conquer the heart of that village. You may appreciate its beauty, purity and serenity in the very depths of your own heart. But if it is not the capital of a country and there is no media, how will the rest of the country know? Our way is to approach the whole world. It is like looking at a tree. One way of appreciating a tree is to focus on only one leaf, because the leaf is part and parcel of the tree. But if you pay attention only to a single leaf, then how will the rest of the tree get light? You can go to some beautiful spots for some time, but you must also go to large cities.

You have to act like a farmer. You sow seeds here and there, but you have to pay more attention to the places where you can expect to get a bumper crop. If you go to the cities, you may draw the interest of some important people. If the President or the head of a country says something nice about our Peace Run, then immediately the rest of the country will accept it. But if the message comes only from a tiny place, then nobody values it.

Always we have to use our inner wisdom. If a little child is crying, we have to give it milk. But if we stay all the time with the little child, then we will not be able to do anything for the entire family. So we also have to pay attention to the grownup members of the family.

When you pray and meditate, you create your own type of beauty. Similarly, while running you can create a beautiful garden inside your own heart and inside the hearts of those who see you run. But if you spend most of the time going to small villages, then you will not achieve anything; you will not create the kind of beauty that the whole world can appreciate.

You have to make yourself happy, and happiness comes from giving. At every moment feel that you are giving something in order to make yourself happy. Then, you have to feel that the very thing that you are giving has already been given to you. God the Creator gave it to you, and you are grateful to Him because you are able to give it to God the creation. When you get something from God the Creator and give it to God the creation, what happens? With your aspiration and your realisation you are connecting God the Creator and God the creation.

To help with the Peace Run means to love your Guru, and to love your Guru means to serve our only Guru, our Beloved Supreme. This is not an individual’s project. This is not my project. Far from it! This is the project of our Lord Beloved Supreme. I am His instrument. Each individual is His instrument. Now it is up to us how sincerely, devotedly and self-givingly we can please our Inner Pilot.

Every second feel that it is your project, your aspiration, your realisation. Then only will you have happiness. Otherwise, you will think, “It is so-and-so’s project. He is getting all the glory.” It is not his project, not my project, but the highest Dream of our Lord Beloved Supreme, and He has chosen each of you to transform His Dream into reality. For that I need your inner and outer oneness.